A good opening repertoire .. maybe Giuoco Piano, Ruy Lopex, Open Sicilian, etc.. these are the more common ones but when I started I tried to play the more aggressive lines like king's gambit etc.. or responding to 1.d4 with 1..e5 etc.. because I wanted to learn faster

take a look at the multiple concurrent close range/distant range, short term/ long term inter-relationships of the 32 pieces on the 64 squares, keeping an eye on the dynamic and static factors of the position, and relative fluctuating piece values with every move. :-)

The 3 things you need to study to improve your games are strategy,tactics and endgame. For your level, I suggest you try Winning Chess Strategy by Seirawan, Chess Tactics for Champion by Polgar and Winning Chess Endings by Seirawan.

Study well these books, and your game will improve. Don't play bullet chess, it will not improve your game. Skip blitz(at the mean time) and play longer games instead(maybe 25 minutes games).

The first step in improving is figuring out your weaknesses and working on them, starting with the most serious. If you go to the doctor with a bleeding wound and an itchy rash, he stops the bleeding first and gives you a prescription ointment later.

I strongly suspect you do NOT lose most of your games due to not keeping up with the latest Grandmaster innovations in the Ruy Lopez. I bet instead you lose most games because you don't see a simple tactic coming, and overlook the threat. This causes you to lose a piece, or your Queen, or get checkmated.

Am I warm?

If so, you need to work on tactics, the simple move combinations that are the basic tools of playing chess. Playing slower games and reviewing them for your mistakes is one good method. Just playing helps, even, it takes experience to become a good player anyway. Also Tactics Trainer here, and puzzles, and playing over games by good players can help, too.

Until you can get through most games without losing any pieces to simple tactics of one or two moves, the only opening study you need is to play by the basic principles on this page. For endgames, you should learn to checkmate with King + Queen, K+R, and K+2B, and the basic K+P v K endings.

It's a pain to lose games, but part of improving is making mistakes - just be sure to try to correct them. AND have fun while you work on improving, it is a game after all.

The first step in improving is figuring out your weaknesses and working on them, starting with the most serious. If you go to the doctor with a bleeding wound and an itchy rash, he stops the bleeding first and gives you a prescription ointment later.

I strongly suspect you do NOT lose most of your games due to not keeping up with the latest Grandmaster innovations in the Ruy Lopez. I bet instead you lose most games because you don't see a simple tactic coming, and overlook the threat. This causes you to lose a piece, or your Queen, or get checkmated.

Am I warm?

If so, you need to work on tactics, the simple move combinations that are the basic tools of playing chess. Playing slower games and reviewing them for your mistakes is one good method. Just playing helps, even, it takes experience to become a good player anyway. Also Tactics Trainer here, and puzzles, and playing over games by good players can help, too.

Until you can get through most games without losing any pieces to simple tactics of one or two moves, the only opening study you need is to play by the basic principles on this page. For endgames, you should learn to checkmate with King + Queen, K+R, and K+2B, and the basic K+P v K endings.

It's a pain to lose games, but part of improving is making mistakes - just be sure to try to correct them. AND have fun while you work on improving, it is a game after all.

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